


Tidal Waves

by French_Writings



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura-centric, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kiri! Sakura, Minor Character Death, except its vaguely minor, haku is the mom friend, i give sakura a functional team and a personality, i had fun with this one no lie, iruka and kisame are reluctant bros, iruka is a partner in crime, wave mission except i mess with it a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23835265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/French_Writings/pseuds/French_Writings
Summary: In which the wave mission does not go as planned and the result is slightly-less sane sword-wielding people.Also in which I gave up on using the official timeline and absolutely nothing occurs as it would’ve.
Relationships: Haku & Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura & Momochi Zabuza, Haruno Sakura & Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 476





	1. Quake

**Author's Note:**

> [The prompt I took and ran with](https://absolutefandom-rubbish.tumblr.com/post/185814314151/the-formerone-dimancheetoile-the-formerone)

It was a narrow miss that allowed Sakura to survive their first encounter with Zabuza. Simple luck that saved her life. She knew this, she didn't need the looks her sensei gave her, false smiles and reassuring tones filled with regret. He knew it as much as she did. She was never meant for the field. She was a paper ninja, and her scores in the academy could prove it.

When Kakashi collapsed, she felt a bit of relief fall over her. She could do this. She read about chakra exhaustion back in the academy. She tried to catch him in her arms, forgetting her lack of strength, and ended up teetering over with him, only to be caught in turn by Naruto. His worried shouts echoed through the trees, spooking off the animals and likely any other travelers in the area.

Sasuke grabbed Kakashi from Sakura’s grasp, enlisting help from Tazuna to drag him to the man’s house. Sakura grimaced as she pushed herself from her blonde teammate, stepping towards her Sensei.

“Is he alright?” Tazuna asked, grunting from the added weight on his shoulders.

“Yeah.” Sakura breathed, gaining looks from her two teammates. She shifted, uncomfortable with the new attention they gave her. “Uh, I think he just has chakra exhaustion.”

Sasuke slowed, turning to give her a questioning look. “Erm, well, I read about it in the academy. He should just need some rest and a bit of food, to recover his chakra, then he should be fine.” He turned back around, and Naruto suddenly filled her view.

“Wow Sakura, you’re really smart! I didn’t even know about this catra stuff.” Sakura felt herself stop, before forcing herself to keep going. Some part of her brain muddled over what the blonde had just said, but she ignored it. Right now, she needed to help Sasuke carry Sensei to Tazuna’s house. Everything else could wait.

The air was moist, chilling her through her clothes, designed for the breezy and less humid climate of Konoha. They were almost there, Tazuna’s house lights glowing in the near distance, promising warmth. When they opened the door, Tsunami ushered them inside, helping the genin bring their sensei to an empty room and pulling her father’s things into the closet.

It was a waiting game, Sasuke sharpening his kunai while Naruto slept across from him. Sakura sat on the floor, back against the wall as she looked at the rest of the room, deep in thought.

That hunter-nin was scary, he took out Zabuza with a senbon, and even Sensei had issues fighting him. “That’s right.” She muttered, shifting a bit and standing up. “A senbon.” She made her way towards the door, pulling it open and stepping out of the room.

“Where are you going?” Sasuke called, eyeing her movements with a critical glance.

She gulped, pulling up a brave face. “I’m going to go collect some herbs for Kakashi-sensei. We learned about it in kunoichi classes. It’ll help him get better faster.”

“Hn.” Inner Sakura cheered. She was alright to go.

Everything looks different in the dark. She grasped at her hip, hand coming up empty. Her kunai pouch, of course, was back in the room with Sensei. It was too late to go back now, she thought, especially empty-handed. She didn’t want Sasuke to know she forgot something so important, so she continued onwards, guided by the light glow of the moon through the trees.

There was a field, filled with the exact herb she was searching for, but it wasn’t empty. Someone was crouched amongst the furthermost edge of the clearing, picking handfuls of the herb and placing them in the basket beside them. Sakura stepped forward, branches snapping as her foot hit the earth. The figure looked up, freezing her in her tracks.

“Erm… Hi?” She waved awkwardly, praying the person wasn’t hostile.

“Hello.” They said, barely looking from their basket of herbs.

Sakura sighed in relief, plopping down to her knees to gather some leaves for tea.

Sakura had collected a decent handful, just enough to still have some leftovers for later if they needed, when she saw the person from the other side of the clearing head towards her.

“Excuse me asking, but you aren’t a kunoichi, are you?”

Sakura, not expecting the sudden question. She eyed the person with suspicion, slipping the small rock she found into her hand. She recognized that voice, where did she hear that voice before? 

“Yes, I am.” She answered slowly, watching the person cautiously.

“Ah.” They knelt in front of her, a good three feet out of reach. “You must be strong then.”

“Yeah!” Sakura smiled, before frowning. “Actually, I’m not that strong.” She thought back to the Demon Brothers, and the fight with Zabuza, and how she couldn’t even catch Kakashi-sensei when he collapsed. “Compared to them, I’m pretty weak.” She looked down at the ground.

“That just means you need to work harder to achieve your dreams.” Her head snapped back towards the stranger.

“Dreams?” Sakura remembered her introduction, all her giggles, and sighs as she glanced at her dark-headed teammate. He was quick to dismiss her, to throw her down. “I don’t really have a good one.”

“That’s alright, you have time yet to find one.” They said, handing her a handful of herbs from their basket. “And once you do, I don’t doubt you’ll grow even stronger.”

Sakura flushed, embarrassed by the sudden compliment, glancing down at the new herb in her pile. “Thank you, erm…” She trailed off, hoping they caught the hint.

“My name is Haku.”

“Ah! Thank you, Haku!”

“You’re welcome.” They got up and walked away, halfway to the other edge of the clearing with a basket of herbs before she called out to them.

“My name’s Sakura!” She waved, watching Haku wave back before gathering her things and making her way back to Tazuna’s. The fog was thick, clinging towards the ground as she walked back to Tanzuna’s. It was up ahead if the glow of the lights were any clue, but something in the back of her mind was keeping her from walking any further, so she stopped, shivering in the chill of the mist.

She knew that person. Somehow, in some part of her mind, she knew them, she recognized their voice. She tried to remember where she had heard it from, thinking back to the beginning of the mission and scanning through a catalog of events before it hit her. 

“Zabuza’s alive.” She muttered to the cold, empty air around her in shock.

A senbon flew just past her ear, tugging at her hair as it sailed by. Sakura clutched her handful of herbs and raced towards the light, ignoring the bite of the air and the sting of the cold mist.

She let out a screech, dropping her herbs as she ducked down as another senbon came from the opposite direction.

“I can’t let you leave here.” The voice muttered from the thick of the mist before a figure walked forward. 

“Haku.” She stumbled backward, falling down as her heel came into contact with uneven dirt. She shook from a combination of fear and cold, attempting to crawl backward from her attacker with little success. Her stiff fingers slipping on the cold gravel. She flinched as their hand came towards her, before her vision faded and she fell to the ground.

* * *

  
  


Naruto woke up to a quiet room. His sensei was still unconscious, and Sasuke was sorting through his kunai pouch. He yawned, rubbing his eyes before glancing around again.

“Hey. Where’s Sakura?” He eyed Sasuke. “You weren’t rude to her, were you?”

Sasuke closed his kunai pouch, glaring at the blonde. “No, you idiot.”

“Where is she then?” He asked, then realized the insult directed towards him. “Hey! You’re the idiot here!”

“You’re both idiots.” A voice behind them groaned. They flipped around.

“Sensei! You’re okay!”

“Of course he’s okay you idiot.”

“Hey, sensei, Sakura said you had catra exhaustion.”

“She’s right.” He said, as Sasuke muttered, chakra, “Where is Sakura anyway?”

Naruto glanced around the room again, eyeing the wall as if he thought she’d jump out of it.

“She said she was going to collect herbs.”

“When?” Sensei looked towards Sasuke, his gaze serious and unyielding.

“Uh, an hour ago?” Kakashi sat up, grasping his head as it lit up in pain. 

“Sensei?” He threw the sheets off his legs, stumbling to a standing position, before shakily racing towards the door, stumbling over the bedding his students had been occupying moments before.

“Stay here.”

He tripped through the doorway, tugging his mask from his nose and running down the path towards where her scent was strongest. Something flashed in the distance, and he ran faster, ignoring the odd click his knee was making and the pop his ankle made every other step. Something hit the ground, a muted thud echoing through the dark mist. 

He went faster, but on the third step he took, his leg gave out beneath him, leaving him with a mouth full of moist soil.

Someone appeared from the forest, grasping onto his student, and pulling her into the trees. “Sakura!” He gasped, staring into the woods where the figure came from. Someone landed beside him.

“Sensei? Are you okay?” Naruto looked down at him, and he was suddenly really thankful about his face being covered in mud.

* * *

She was absolutely terrified when she woke up, her ankle tied to the wall and her clothes covered in mud. Her captor, the fake hunter-nin Haku, knelt over the body of her mission enemy. She stiffened as Haku turned towards her. She leaned forward in attempts to get to her feet, only for Haku to move towards her. She flinched, closing her eyes as they grabbed her arm.

“Relax. If you move too much, you’ll hurt yourself more.”

“What?” Sakura gasped, staring at their hand. “But-But you’re the enemy!” She stumbled over the words as they dropped her hand. “Why do you care if I’m hurt, unless,” She made another attempt to scramble away. “You aren’t gonna do  _ that _ to me, are you?” Her face was red, eyes wide in terror.

Haku’s face turned bright red. “I- What!? No! I would never.” They looked away, staring towards the wall. “Why would you even think that?”

“Uh,” Years of kunoichi class drilled it into her head, “Well, if that’s not why you’re healing me, then why are you?”

“Because you’re young.”

“So are you though.”

“But I grew up.”

“You’re still like, three years older than me. That’s young. So why are you fighting alongside someone like him? He’s horrible. They call him the Demon of the Mist. How can you help someone like that?”

“Because he saved me.”

“Still though. He’s killed so many people.”

Haku stilled, catching her eyes in a blank gaze. “So has your teacher.”

“Kakashi-Sensei? No way. He’s strong, yeah, but there’s no way he’s worse than the Demon of the Mist.” She ignored the part of her mind telling her that sensei had definitely killed before, all older nin had. “He’s so lazy and-” She cut herself off.

“And?”

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything else, he’s so closed off.”

“Do you want to know what I know about Kakashi Hatake?”

Sakura stared at Haku in confusion. What would he know about- “Sure.”

“Kakashi Hatake, '' began, Jonin, former Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai captain for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Son of Konoha’s White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, Student of Minato Namikaze. Alias, Kakashi of the Sharingan, Copy Ninja Kakashi. And-”

They paused, letting Sakura take in the information before adding. “ _ Nakamagoroshi no Kakashi.” _

_ Friend-Killer Kakashi. _ Her mind whispered at her. There was no way. Kakashi-Sensei wasn’t like that. Yet- “Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai? What’s that?”

“Ah, it’s like a hunter-nin. I believe the leaf has shortened the term to just ANBU.”

It was like a bullet to the chest. Her sensei was ANBU, an assassin for the shadows, and they let him around  _ children? _ Then again, they didn’t even tell them, her team, who their teacher even was.

“Did I ever really know who he was?”

Haku didn’t respond.

* * *

  
  


“But what if she’s dying, Sensei? What are we supposed to do!” The orange-clad child ran towards the door. “We have to rescue her!”

“Tch. She’s probably already dead.” Naruto turned towards Sasuke, horror on his face and anger in his eyes.

“Sasuke, how could you say that. Sakura’s our teammate!”

“She’s weak. She ended up getting caught by the enemy.” Naruto lunged.

“Sasuke. Naruto.” Kakashi was serious, staring down at his students. “Do you really think so little of your teammate?”

“No!” Naruto cried as Sasuke looked to the side.

“She’s. Your. Teammate. You’re supposed to look out for each other.”

“Sensei?” Naruto asked, shaking slightly. Oh, no, that was his hand. He was shaking. Whelp. “We’ll rescue Sakura.” Naruto opened his mouth. “When I’m recovered enough to fight. Otherwise, we might not all make it back out alive.”

He dropped Naruto before turning out of the room. “I’ll be in the shower.”

* * *

  
  


_ Rin, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t- “Take care of her, Bakashi.” Obito, no I didn’t mean to. I failed you. I’m so sorry. Minato-Sensei, I’m so sorry. I failed the mission. I failed you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. “Kakashi, I’m sorry.” Dad, no! _

His hand met cold stone, the tile of the bathroom grounding him as he sat under the brisk water. He slowly pulled his hand into his line of sight, winching at the scars that marred the pale skin. Scars from the lightning that took Rin’s life. He blinked a few times, before running his hand past his face and through his hair. “Fuck. Hiruzen, why put me in charge of kids.”

When he left the bathroom in a clean uniform and returned to the room, the boys were asleep. That’s good, he decided. Two fewer people to look after before I sleep. He stared at his futon in consideration, before forming hand signs. A puff of smoke erupted from where his palm met the earth, and a dog sat on his pillow. “Hey, boss. Long night?”

* * *

  
  


Sakura had learned a lot about the world she lived in from Haku while she was kept prisoner. Once she got over the initial shock that maybe, just maybe, she had been fed lies and half-truths all her life, she began asking questions. Who are the Swordsman of the Mist? What happens to your family? Who’s Minato Namikaze. Land of Whirlpools?

Needless to say, she had a lot of questions. 

“Um, Haku? How did you do that with the senbon?” They turned, placing the bandage dressings down beside Zabuza before turning to the girl. Her ankle was loosely tied to the wall opposite them.

“What?” She gestured to Zabuza, who was propped against the wall and covered in a healing salve.

“How did you make him seem, y’know, dead? Even Sensei believed it.”

“Practice.” 

“Well yeah, but-” Zabuza shifted, groaning as Haku turned back to him to stop him from moving.

“I’ll show you. See this spot right here?” Haku pointed to a spot on Zabuza’s neck. They pulled a senbon from their sleeve and poked said spot as Sakura shifted for a better view. Zabuza went still.

“Doesn’t it hurt though?” 

“Maybe.”

* * *

  
  


“Why is she here?”

"She knows."

"Well of course she knows, she's here."

“She’s sitting right here y’know.”

“Oh is she now?” Zabuza turned towards her, still laying in bed. “And does the little kunoichi wannabe have something to say?”

“Yeah.” Haku glanced between them, inching to stop Zabuza if he tried anything. “Is it true you’re trying to fix the Hidden Mist Village?”

Zabuza turned towards Haku. “You told her? Seriously? That’s top-secret, strictly need to know info.”

Sakura blinked in confusion. This Zabuza was different from the one she had seen before. He was talking like a kid who’s crush was told to the whole school, not some super scary Demon assassin from Chigiri. Haku sighed as he looked at his master. 

“She asked.”

“B-Wha- And you told her!?” Sakura stifled a laugh and they both turned towards her. “What’s so funny?” 

Sakura waved her hand in front of her as if dismissing the thought. “I-it’s not that it’s funny.” She paused to laugh some more. “You’re just so different from the first time I saw you.”

“And?” Zabuza was staring at her intently, waiting for her response.

Sakura sombered up under his gaze. “And, well, I guess, It makes you more human than the stories do.”

Zabuza leaned forward, and Sakura braced herself for killing intent, except, that wasn’t what happened. Inches away from her face, Zabuza broke into a laugh.

“Haku! Where did you get this kid? She’s great.”

* * *

  
  


Zabuza inspected the ice dummy with critical eyes “Aim a bit higher next time.” Sakura nodded, moving to collect her knife from its torso to try again before- “You did good, kid.”

She smiled, turning towards him, knife in hand. “Thanks!”

“Now go again.” Her grin faded a bit, and here eyes steeled with resolve as she aimed towards the point she was told to hit. She threw her hand forward. Moments passed before the tell-tale sound of metal hitting ice echoed back to them. She waited for Zabuza’s judgment.

“You hit it! Damn, kid, that’s amazing.” Sakura beamed, then whisked around towards the noise in the bush.

“What’s amazing?” Haku set down the basket they had and walked towards the pair, whistling as they caught sight of the target. “How long have you been at this?”

Sakura stepped forward and pulled the knife from the target. “Three hours.”

“Three?” They eyed Zabuza in confusion. “You made me make this before I left to get snacks an hour ago.”

“Well, yeah, but I had her work on endurance before that.” Zabuza was grinning as he said it. Haku glared at him.

“Really? So why’d you switch to weapons?”

“Her reserves were low.”

“Reserves– You’re kidding.” Zabuza’s grin shrank as Haku dragged him away from the dummy, and Sakura. “That’s dangerous for someone that young.” They whisper-shouted at the taller man. “ Were you trying to kill her?” Zabuza shook his head.

“Hey, Haku? Can you help me with this bit here?” Sakura pointed towards the training dummy. Haku turned back towards Zabuza.

“This conversation isn’t over, okay?”

“Haku?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

* * *

  
  


“I think this is it, kid.” Zabuza pulled his sword onto his back, “The final fight.”

She ran to him, jumping into his arms and hugging his neck. “You can’t die.”

“The ninja world is not so kind, Sakura.” Haku pulled her off Zabuza, and she clasped onto their robes. “People die, and people kill.”

“B-But-” She sniffled. “I can’t lose you guys. You taught me so much!”

Haku smiled sadly at her. “Sakura-”

“C’mon kid, give us some credit. You can’t get rid of us that easy.”

She blinked up at him, eyes glistened with tears. “You- I love you guys!”

“Love ya too, squirt.” Haku put her back onto the ground and placed her on her feet. “Now let’s go kick some ass.”

The bridge towered above them, casting a large shadow over the water. They stood in silence, water lapping at the sides of the boat as Zabuza tuned the earpiece. He waited several seconds before he ripped the earpiece from his head and threw it to the ground, Gato’s voice screeching from the speaker. Sakura stared at it in shock, before looking back up at Zabuza.   
  


“This is the guy you work for?”

Zabuza crushed it underfoot before he shrugged. “Money is money when you’re on the run.”

“And trying to organize a coup.”

“And that.”

He adjusted his sword and turned to Sakura and Haku. “Ready?”

“Yeah!”

Zabuza and Haku stepped off the boat and onto the water, stopping just ahead of the boat. Sakura stared at them in shock, looking between their legs and the water.

“What?”

“It’s like the tree exercise your team was doing, except, not quite.” Haku supplied.

“So?”

“Channel your chakra to your feet and try to not fall in.”

Sakura glanced at them, before concentrating on her feet and stepping onto the water. She stayed above it for a couple of seconds, feeling the push and pull of the water as it interacted with her chakra before her foot sunk in up to the ankle. Zabuza caught her as she tipped forward and pushed her back onto the boat.

“I can carry you if you need-”

“No! I will get this.” She moved to put her foot onto the water again.

“This isn’t exactly beginner-”

Sakura was standing on the water in front of the boat.

“Okay, we can go now?”

“Holy shit.”

“Huh?”

“Of course you’re a fucking prodigy.”

* * *

  
  


They attacked the workers on the bridge, aiming to knock them out, then retreated to the underside of the bridge.

“What- What happened here?” Tazuna’s voice echoed from the beginning of the bridge, and Zabuza made several hand signs, his mist filling their range of vision. He motioned towards Sakura and began making hand signs. “This jutsu varies depending on who cast the mist, so don’t expect it to work all the time. Watch close.”

She followed his hands, speaking the name after Zabuza and casting the jutsu. Her vision cleared, and she was giving a clear view through the mist. “Woah!”

“Yeah!” He grinned, his sharp teeth practically glowing against the glow of the chakra in the mist. ”Now hold on, you’re gonna be our pretend hostage.”

He threw her over his shoulder, her face scarily close to Kubikiribocho, but not quite touching the blade, before leaping back onto the bridge, blocking off Team Seven’s exit. He placed Sakura off to the side, near some bushes before facing her team.

“SAKURA!” Naruto screamed, catching sight of her pink hair before it was blocked by the mist jutsu. She saw him tense, and Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his sharingan eye. “YOU BASTARD!”

“Naruto.” Kakashi’s voice was stern, and he was looking just beyond where the bridge builder stood. “Guard Tazuna. Sasuke, do your best to recover your teammate.” He grunted in response and Kakashi took in a deep breath, spinning around as the shift of air behind him.

“DOWN!” A sword swung over where Tazuna’s head was. Naruto shook, glancing between his sensei and the giant sword. As Kakashi rushed to meet his blade with a kunai, Naruto spammed clones, completely surrounding Tazuna with them.

Sakura was too absorbed in the fight between her mentors to notice Sasuke walking towards her.

“Sakura.” She jumped, blinking towards him.

“Sasuke?” He gave a hn of confirmation before grabbing her hand, pulling her up roughly. “Wha-” He started dragging her in a direction, that, only because of the jutsu, she knew was wrong. “Sasuke. This isn’t the right way.” He didn’t look at her. “Sasuke.” She attempted to shake her hand from his grasp. “This.” Another twist. “Isn’t.” Another one. “Right.” Her hand came free, and he turned to stare at her in confused anger. She pointed left of where they were going, where she could see Zabuza and Kakashi clash. “That way.” She didn’t elaborate.

* * *

“HAKU! GET THE BRAT OUT OF THE WAY!” Zabuza’s voice echoed through the mist, and Sakura stiffened for only a second before quickening their pace. Realistically, she knew Haku wouldn’t kill either of the boys, only maim them a bunch so they wouldn’t interfere, and even if she did, Naruto healed really quickly so he’d probably be fine even if he was super injured, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t worry.

She watched as Haku’s signature jutsu surrounded the real Naruto, and as Kakashi’s eyes widened. Zabuza took that second to swing at Kakashi again, kubikiribocho striking his leg and leaving a bloodied mess in its wake. Credit to him, he didn’t cry out in pain, but stood, wincing, on his mangled and bleeding leg.

They were all too preoccupied to hear what she did. “Sasuke. Go help sensei.”

He stared at her before taking off, pulling out several kunai and rushing Zabuza head-on. She turned towards the noise, catching several voices as they got louder. She recognized Gato’s from the radio and zeroed in on his loud voice.

“-wasn’t planning on paying them then, but they couldn’t even do the job they were bought for in the first place so it’s not a loss.” She saw a figure beside him nod. 

“Ninja are almost never worth the price.”

She watched as one man readied his aim to launch a killing blow on Haku from afar, and Sakura saw red. She rushed forward, grasping several of the senbon she was gifted and launching them ahead of her. They didn’t hit the targets she’d intended, but didn’t outright miss any of them. Several people went down with cries of pain and shock, and Gato foolishly turned around, looking wildly around for the source of the weapons.

“What are you standing here for? Defend me. Get them!” They pulled out weapons and spread out, and, by some miracle, Sakura managed to keep an open sight of Gato the whole time. She threw a kunai with a paper bomb towards the center of his goons, the explosion throwing them and their weapons everywhere. 

A sword flew toward her, and she didn’t think, just reached out her hand and caught it, the force whipping her arm back. She looked at it in surprise, then tested the weight in her hands a few times. It was decently balanced.

The few of Gato’s hires that were standing made their way towards her, and her instincts screamed for her to get out, to leave and let the other’s handle it, but she tightened her grip on the sword and calmed her breathing. She didn’t really want to kill them, but the ninja world is not so kind, people die, and it was either her or them.

Based solely on the fact that her first strike the blade had not been taken care of properly. Instead of slicing as it should have, it jumped across the skin, tearing rather than cutting flesh and muscle. Three people went down this way before she changed tactics, the sword taking too much energy to cut than it should realistically need. She dropped it and turned, grabbing a kunai and jabbing it into the shoulder of the nearest man.

She rushed forward, aiming for necks and closing her eyes for the splatters of blood that sprayed from their arteries. Something snagged her leg and she went down with a yelp, gravely dirt from the bridge sinking into her skin and wounds. She hissed in pain as she struggled to get up, rocks digging into her palms.

Footsteps neared her, and she steadied her hand, tightening her grip on the kunai and focusing on her breathing like they taught in class to ignore her pain. The feet stopped by her side, about a yard away, and she struck, her muscles seizing at the action. Her kunai soared through the air and struck true, embedding itself into his head to the hilt. He hit the ground with a thud, revealing five battle-ready ninja. Her teammates, Haku, and Zabuza, all poised to strike the man now dead beside her.

She let out a sigh of relief as she made eye contact with Zabuza. His eyebrow rose at her as he surveyed the damage. She shrugged, letting out a small laugh as she forced herself up on shaking limbs. Her team rushed forward but were stopped by a large hand. She gave Zabuza a grateful smile and turned towards Haku.

“Could you give me a hand? I have a gift for Kiri.” Kakashi looked at her, eyes wide as Naruto and Sasuke looked down.

“Uh, Sakura?” Haku said as he neared her, “You’re covered in blood.”

She looked at her arm, then glanced around her. “Oh.” She did a number on the people Gato had brought, several were burning still, and a few had bled out from their wounds. Her stomach churned.

“Sakura?”

“Right.” She started forward again, stepping over the bodies and rubble from the paper bomb, stopping in front of a mostly alive Gato. “He’s yours. He didn’t intend to pay you guys, by the way.”

* * *

“Well, I’d say this is the amount you get after the split, not including bounty.” Zabuza handed Sakura a sealed scroll filled with a no doubt generous amount of money, though she knew he had well over double the amount stashed away in a scroll somewhere on his person. “Good luck squirt.”

“Yeah.” Sakura let out a soft smile before turning towards her waiting team. She stepped forward, before rushing back to the Swordsman, pulling him into a tight hug. “Thanks, Zabuza.”

“Yeah.” He patted her head and she released him, turning towards Haku. She wrapped him into a hug too, causing him to almost drop the basket he held in his arms. 

“Thank you, Haku.”

“You’re welcome Sakura.”

She backed up, nodding at them before turning around and running towards her team. It was time to return to Konoha.


	2. Wave

“You want an infiltration mission near Kiri?”

“Yes.” The man at the desk stared at her in disbelief. 

“You’re a genin. The only way you’d get sent on an infiltration mission would be if your sensei agreed, and you passed T&I’s resistance to interrogation exam. And you can only take the T&I RTI exam if you hold chunin rank or above.” Sakura frowned, glancing at the ground before making eye contact with the desk nin.

“What’s the fastest way to make chunin.”

“The chunin exam in three months, but even then, that’s only if you sensei recommends your team.”

“Ah.” Sakura nodded, taking in the information. “Thank you.”

He grumbled in response and she left, headed towards the training grounds where her team would inevitably be waiting for their sensei.

* * *

She sets her plan into motion after they finish a D rank. Kakashi writes the report and signs it with a henohenomoheji before sealing it and sending it off towards the missions office. She watched him sign the papers, studied his handwriting until she knew she could copy it, and knew she could do this. So when the group split from training, and Naruto went for ramen, and Sasuke and Kakashi disappeared to wherever they went, Sakura put on a henge, of a slightly older, slightly taller, slightly less noticeable chunin, and walked to the desk nin she had seen before.

“Excuse me?” Her voice was the same but with a ‘not quite the same’ tone. “Could I please have the forms for the RTI exam?” The desk nin did not ask questions, he probably didn’t care enough to know honestly. Anyone willing to submit themselves to torture was stupid, no doubt, so he handed her the papers and went back to filing mission reports.

The scroll weighed heavy in her kunai pouch, reminding her of what she was about to do. Forgery was quite common in the ninja world, but the impersonation of a ninja was a crime, and she knew she could not get caught. So she pulled a pen from her desk and got to work. The letters were copied perfectly from what she could remember, so all that was left was sensei’s foolish signature.

* * *

“Ibiki, get a look at this!” He turned the corner to face her.

“What?”

She waved a scroll in front of him. “Someone wants to take the RTI. FIlled out all the paperwork and everything.”

“And?”

“And,” Anko smirked, “She’s a genin. This was forged.”

Ibiki’s face fell. “Who.”

“A Sakura Haruno, under Kakashi Hatake. Foraged his handwriting pretty well, except the mannerisms were off.” She leaned towards him.“So? What do you think?”

“I’m gonna let her take it.”

* * *

She got a scroll early the morning after she sent her paperwork in.  _ Haruno-san.  _ It said.  _ We know you foraged the papers. _ She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end but continued.  _ However, we are granting you permission to take the Resistance To Interrogation exam on April 23. Fill the following forms out and bring them to the Southmost part of the Nara Forest at 0900. They are expecting your presence and will not stop you from entering their lands. Memorize this file by then. _

She stared at the letter in shock. They knew, but they still let her take the exam? Why? She scanned the paper again. Nothing told her why, except-

“Shit! The 23?” She exclaimed, shooting from her bed in shock. “That’s tomorrow.”

She threw on some training clothes, ignoring her dress in the corner in favor of sweatpants and an athletic shirt. She twisted her hair up and out of the way before running towards the library, the nin at the door staring at her in confusion, before nodding her in.

She pulled book after book and set them onto a table in the back. She set to reading, attempting to get as much knowledge behind her as possible before the exam.

* * *

The file was supposed to be her cover, she supposed, and she wasn’t supposed to let her true self slip. Or maybe it was the other way around, and she wasn’t supposed to let them know about the file or the information it had. Either way, she didn’t bring it with her to the meeting place. So now she was stuck waiting in a forest on clan property with nothing to read but the release waiver. She sighed in annoyance, shutting her eyes and leaning against a tree. Seconds later, she heard a noise at her left, too quick for her to react, and she was knocked out.

* * *

  
  


They broke another finger, the pain reduced to a dull throb as it joined the rest of her hand in its limp state. She coughed, the scream caught in her throat, hoarse from the previous hours of screams. They kept asking questions, asking her about her profile, about who she was, but she did not answer them. At first, it was because she refused, intent on passing the exam, and then, it was because of the pain. She couldn’t think about the answers to anything, not with the throbbing sensation of broken bones and the blood oozing from the cuts across her skin.

* * *

  
  


The RTI started easy, just you and the interrogator in a closed room. They’d ask questions, then leave you alone for an hour. Then came the jutsu. Some people would hold off on the physical torture, jumping straight into the psychological torture, breaking the mind of whoever was unlucky enough to choose to go through with the exam. Other interrogators would skip the mental torture, sparing the sanity of whoever they were questioning, and skip right to the pain. Anko was one of the latter, and Sakura was lucky that that’s who she was being interrogated by because Ibiki would not be as kind.

Sakura was a strong kid, there was no doubt, seeing as she managed to keep quiet the whole time Anko was in there with her. Her eyes had not lost their spark of defiance in the three hours she was being tested. Her tears had dried up on her chin, mixing with the blood from her broken nose and bloodied lip. Anko walked over to her, undoing the restraints and ignoring Sakura’s flinch at her movement. She tugged her up by the arm, opening the door and taking her down the hall towards the medical office.

“Haruno.” The girl glanced up at Anko, unease in her eyes. “Get patched up and report to the head office.” Anko barked orders at the med-nin in the office before leaving to finish the report.

* * *

“Take it easy,” they told her, “don’t do anything too strenuous for the next week.” She nodded. “Come back to the med-office in a week,” they said, “for a routine counseling check. Do not return to duty until then.” 

She nodded again. Anko’s words echoed through her head. “Where’s the head office?”

A nin gave her a small smile. “I’ll take you. I have to give this report to the boss anyway.”

She followed exactly one yard behind him as they snaked through the corridors and passed other rooms. They paused outside one room, and he knocked slowly before opening the door. The man at the desk was riddled in scars, the bandana on his head no doubt hiding more from view.

“Sit.” He said, and Sakura made her way to the chair in front of his desk. The med-nin put down a folder on his desk and left, shutting the door behind him with a bang. “So, Haruno, what made you take the exam?”

She let out a small breath, attempting to slow the tremble in her hands. “I want an infiltration mission.” Ibiki let out a single laugh.

“You don’t need the RTI for an infiltration mission unless-” He caught her eyes. “You want a Kiri mission, don’t you?”

She closed her eyes, nodding slowly. Ibiki stared at her in amazement. “Y’know, the Hatake brat said you were the least troublesome one on his team last time I saw him. Guess he was wrong.”

“Are you going to tell him?” She asked in horror, the weight of her actions finally crashing into her. She foraged her sensei’s signature to take an exam she wasn’t allowed to.

Ibiki eyed her in amusement. “Tell him what? He authorized the exam, after all.” Sakura stood up in shock. He was going to lie for her?

“Thank you, Sir.”

Ibiki waved his hand. “Don’t thank me. I did nothing.”

She nodded and turned to leave before he spoke up again. “Good job kid. You passed with flying colors. Best score so far I think.”

She smiled and left the room, heading back through the twisting corridors in the way she thought was the exit. She passed several closed rooms, then took a left turn. Two closed-door, an open one, another closed one, a right turn.

“Sakura?” The voice echoed through the empty hall, it’s confusion burrowing deep into Sakura’s bones.

“Inoichi! How are you?” She turned around, smiling at Ino’s dad as if she wasn’t deep within the T&I building amidst interrogation rooms and the nin that worked in them.

“...Good.” He hesitated, glancing between her and the corridor she came from. “Why are you here? Surely not looking for me?” Sakura shrugged.

“I had an errand to run for someone, and delivering papers here happened to be part of it.”

“You delivered papers to an interrogator.”

“I think I delivered papers to  _ the _ interrogator. Big man, covered in scars?”

“You brought papers to Ibiki?”

“I guess.” So that was his name.

“You guess.” Inoichi stared at her in disbelief. Ibiki was a scary man, even to some of the nin that worked with him daily. 

“Well, I kinda have to go.” Sakura started walking forward. “More errands to run.”

He stared at her disappearing form in shock. “The exit is left.” He called out. She shook her head and went right, disappearing from sight.

* * *

  
  


The second the med-nin cleared her, she took her paperwork to the missions office and requested the infiltration mission. The desk nin glared at her. “I already told you, you can’t take the mission without passing-”

“The RTI, I know. I did.” She pushed the paper towards him at his disbelieving look.

He straightened up, pushing it back. “Well, regardless, you have to pass a psych evaluation before we let you go.” 

Sakura shuffled through the folder before slamming a paper down in success. The nin opened his mouth again. She slammed two more papers on the desk. “Psych evaluation, physical evaluation, written approval from my sensei, what else do you need?”

The nin glanced from the papers to her. “Are you sure?”

“Just give me the damn mission already.” The nin pulled out a box of scrolls, shuffling through them slowly. He pulled out a light blue scroll.

“Here. Mission details are inside. Good luck kid.”

* * *

  
  


The hardest part about getting ready wasn’t packing, which, to her surprise, took less than an hour, but writing the letters telling people that she wouldn’t be around for a while. She stacked the papers on her desk, staring down at them as she tried to figure out who to write to.

Kakashi got a short letter. One admitting to her knowledge of his ANBU status, and his lack of teaching ability. One that admitted that she knew the team was set up for failure and that she wasn’t supposed to succeed. Especially because he saw her as a shadow of a failure in his history.

Naruto and Sasuke got a shared one. It bid farewell, wishing Naruto well despite his differences, and Sasuke luck on his mission, though she believed there to be more to the picture. It wished Naruto luck in achieving Hokage and told them not to look for her.

Iruka received the second-longest letter, thanking him over lines and lines of words for teaching her the skills she’s needed for life. It told him of her thoughts on her team, and her sensei, and compared them to his teaching styles. She wrote up all of her thoughts on the way things were run in Konoha, on how children were soldiers and the soldiers were just babysitters. On how the people were divided and how some of the powers could use that to an advantage. She wrote how she was sorry, but only a little, and how she knew she’d be better somewhere else. She gave him a goodbye.

Her parents were given a thank you, a goodbye, and a warning.

* * *

  
  


She stopped on an empty patch of road. “You know, this mist really isn’t doing it for me. Could we tone it down a bit?”

Several voices rang out from behind the mist, and a man stepped forward, his eyes wary and he stood ready to fight. She blinked in surprise, taking in the stance with wide eyes.

“What do you need, girlie?” He grumbled, raising his sword to her. She blinked and stepped forward.

“Do you know where Zabuza is? It’s kind of important.”

The man’s grin grew wider, looking very out of place on his face. “Oi, Momoichi! D’ya know this kid?” He grinned as if expecting Zabuza to come from the mist and start a fight with her. Instead, she cast the jutsu that let her see through the mist the first time, surprising the man in front of her as she peered around the surrounding area.

“Kid?” She found his figure just behind that man, staring at her in shock.

“Zabuza! How are you? Things going well?”

“The fuck are you doing here? Where’s that sensei of yours?”

“I forged papers and got a mission.”

“You- You forged papers?” Zabuza laughed. “And they  _ let _ you leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Sakura?” 

“Haku! How are you?” She walked over to him, ignoring the surprised looks of everyone else as she walked through the mist towards them.

“Why are you here?”

“I,” she started, “got a mission.”

“They gave you an infiltration mission? As a genin?”

“Well, no…”

“She forged the papers.” 

Haku turned towards Zabuza in confusion. “You forged papers for a mission.”

The nin who first stopped her stepped in. “Yes, she forged the papers. Moving on. Who is she?”

Zabuza blinked like he had forgotten he was there. He opened his mouth, but Sakura beat him to it. “We met in Wave. The bridge builder hired Konoha and my team got the mission. Then they kidnapped me and taught me more than my sensei has in the month and a half I’ve been on his team. So while Haku and Zabuza were fighting my team, Gato came to take out Zabuza for not immediately killing Tanzuna, and I took out him and his goons. That’s how we know each other.”

Haku shook their head while Zabuza grinned. “She was kind enough to fork over the bounty for Kiri so she got a share of the money.”

“And now she’s here. Why is she here?” They were beginning to gather a crowd of other nin who were part of the revolution, almost all of which were watching in confusion. One stepped forward, her hair shining brightly in the dissipating mist.

“Ah, you must be Sakura! I’m Mei. I’ve heard how much you helped my boys in Wave. We’re grateful for the help.”

“Oh. Uh, you’re welcome?” It came out more like a question, but Mei smiled wider.

* * *

  
  


“I don’t think this is a good idea.” His gaze flew over the girl on the water, who’s stance was loose but controlled.

“She’ll be fine.”

“Yeah but-”

“We train on the water all the time.”

“Yeah, but we were raised around water. She’s from Konoha, which is in the middle of the forest. Not the sea. Not to mention the only thing she knows about sword fighting is what I taught her when she was our hostage.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

  
  


Sakura was, of course, fine. She fell in a few times, sure, but she always managed to come back up afterward, and listened carefully when Mei shouted tips from the shoreline.

“Keep your stance wider next time.”

“Focus on fighting, not staying afloat. Treat it like it’s dirt.”

“C’mon shrimp you can go one more round, the water isn’t that cold.”

“Oi. don’t drop the blade in the water, those are harder to come by than most. The smith died after making that one.”

* * *

  
  


When Mei left her training to Zabuza again, she could properly use a sword, on or off of the water. When she wrote her reports to Konoha, she left out her training. Instead, she filled it with the nonsense that a genin might have found important. When Haku taught her about the importance of the different vegetation that grew around there, she wrote about all the pretty flowers she found. When Zabuza took her to buy supplies for the revolution, she made sure she wrote down how good the jewelry maker was in town. 

It was filled with so much nonsense, she’d assume the desk nin would put it in the bottom of the pile and mark it for someone else to do. The desk nin in question, however, was Iruka Umino, and he was not going to throw it down to the bottom. Not when it held the name of one of his graduated students who wasn’t even of chunin rank, who had left him a goodbye filled with nothing about her plans.

He took it when he was sure no one was looking, acting as if he had thrown it into the sort later pile under the desk. When his shift ended, and he double-checked it was secure in his pocket, he opened the door and made to leave.

“Hey!” Someone called after him. His shoulders seized in mild panic,  _ oh my god what if they saw me- _ “Have a good night, Iruka.” 

He forced himself to relax. “You too Genma.”

He didn’t let down his defenses until he made it back to his apartment. Everything was still closed, and none of the lights were on, so he walked to the kitchen and put on a pot of tea, the contents of the scroll searing a hole into his brain. He jumped at the whistle of steam from the pot and rushed to go take it off the stove, leaving the scroll on the coffee table. 

He made a cup of green tea, using a chipped cup from the drying rack he was sure wasn’t there when he left that morning, and made his way back to the living room.

“What’s this? A mission scroll?”

It was a testament to his strength as a teacher and all the crazy things that happen in his classroom, that he didn’t drop the mug. 

“Kakashi. Why’re you here?”

He was ignored, the copy-nin instead moving to open the scroll. Iruka tried to stop him, spilling tea on his leg as he reached outwards, but he was too late.

“Iruka.” The steel in Kakashi’s voice sent shivers down his neck. “Why do you have a mission scroll sent by one of my cute little students?”

He gulped, setting the tea down on the table. “I work at the desk, Kakashi. I’m supposed to have mission reports.”

“That’s shit and you know it. She disappeared after wave. Didn’t show up for training. That was fine. She’s from a civilian family, she wasn’t made for ninja life.” Iruka stiffened because he knew damn well that sakura had so much potential. He was her teacher for so long, he  _ knew _ what she could do.

“So I went to her house to get her signature for resignation from being a ninja, only, her parents stared at me like I was crazy. ‘Sakura? She’s on a mission. Why would she want to resign?’”

Kakashi stared up at Iruka. “So why don’t you tell me, why is my student on a solo mission in Kiri in the midst of a revolution, when she is. Barely. A. Genin.” He seethed the last bit through his teeth, staring at Iruka in anger.

Iruka took a few steps back, eyeing the man in hopes that he didn’t get any closer to him. When he didn’t, and only stood waiting for a response, Iruka lunged forward, quickly grabbing the scroll and escaping out the living room window that Kakashi no doubt came in from.

* * *

  
  


“Iruka what the fuck.”

“Hide me.”

“What?” He was so confused. Why the fuck was Iruka at his door at asscrack o’clock, begging to be hid.

“Kakashi is after me and you have to hide me.”

“What did you  _ do? _ ” Iruka shifted uneasily, and Genma signed. “Fucking fine. Whatever. Come in.”

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

* * *

  
  


“Hey Genma. Do you have any tea?”

Genma sighed. “No. I was supposed to go shopping but now apparently I’m hiding you.”

“Ah. Want me to get you some tea?”

“You’re in hiding?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not like he’ll find me on a shopping trip.”

* * *

  
  


Iruka loses Kakashi four times during his time in the store. Which, should be said, is not an easy task, considering Kakashi was ANBU for so many years, except, Iruka grew up a prankster, he knew all the tricks to avoiding tails and not getting caught. So really, Genma shouldn’t have been so shocked when Iruka came back with a small smile, laughter in his eyes, and a bag of groceries.

“How are you not dead?”

“It’s just like running from ANBU, be careful enough and you won’t be caught.”

Genma blinked, trying to make sense of the knowledge that, holy shit Iruka can lose ANBU and not be out of breath. “Ah.” He said quite eloquently, before turning around and collapsing on the couch.

* * *

  
  


“I think I’m gonna take a vacation in a few days?”

“Is that a question?” Genma sipped some tea from his cooling mug on the counter.

“No?” Iruka looked stressed. “Maybe? I don't know, I’m gonna take a vacation.”

“To?”

“Kiri.” Genma spit out the tea, pounding his chest while coughing violently.

* * *

“And you’re sure this is a good idea?”

“Absolutely not. I could die.” Iruka grabbed the strap of his bag, before patting Genma on the back. “Thanks. I’ll probably be back eventually.”

“You better.” Genma called back, as Iruka began his walk out the gate.

* * *

The road was dark, gravel soaked with mist and the occasional bits of what looked like blood. Genma pressed on, the sounds of battle growing closer as he continued. A shriek, followed by a deep yell filled the air, spooking a bird out of the tree beside him. He pressed on.

Before him was a battlefield. Kiri against Kiri. And in the middle of it all? A pink haired genin, twirling a sword through the bodies that came near her. A pink haired genin who had no reason to be that good with a sword. A pink haired genin covered in the blood of those against her. She seemed to be the only person left fighting, everyone else covered in injuries or down.

When a tall blue man,  _ Kisame, his mind whispered, _ stepped towards her, Iruka stiffened. Kisame reached out a hand and took out the last guy in front of Sakura.

“You fucked up your mission kid.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, racking her bloody hand through her hair, leaving red streaks in her pink locks, then made eye contact with Iruka. “Sensei?” She said quietly, then stared at her sword, and the bodies around her, and vanished into the mist.

Kisame laughed when she vanished. “Well, that went well. Wanna come find her.”

_ Not really, _ Iruka didn’t say.  _ You’re a missing foreign nin, I’d rather stay right here _ . Of course, brains are silly things and never work when you need them to, so what he said was. “Yes.”

He followed Kisame through the carnage, carefully stepping around the limbs that were far from their original owners, and trying to avoid as much blood as possible, but considering that the ground was soaked in it, he wasn’t doing so well on that front.

“So.” He tried, staring at the man. “How do you know Sakura?”

“I-uh, came for the revolution. Mei said she had everything tied together and we were ready, and that I should uh, ‘get my blue ass back to Kiri before I missed the fun’ so, here I am. Pinky was training when I came in, she wasn’t as good with a sword as she is now back then, but she’s an eager learner.”

Iruka was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that his student was mentored by the tailless beast, but he pushed that aside. “So why is she part of the revolution anyways.”

Kisame laughed. “Zabuza got attached to her, I think. So she came back to bother him some more. Right?” He asked the mist.

“Kind of?” The mist answered. “You missed the part where Kakashi wasn’t teaching me anything but Zabuza did. While I was his hostage no less.”

“Oh damn. Thought I had everything.”

There was no way this was real. There was absolutely no way this was his life. No way it had gotten this crazy after everything he’s gone through.

“Sensei. Why are you here?” Iruka smiled a little.

“Kakashi saw the report you sent and concluded it was my fault. I’m avoiding him.”

“In Kiri during a revolution?”

“I’m on vacation.”

* * *

“So, you realize you broke mission parameters, right?”

“Yeah.”

“They could punish you for that when you get home.”

“Yeah.”

“Or.” Iruka paused for effect. “You could stay here and be a Kiri nin.”

“Sensei?”

“I’m not saying I approve of defecting, but I can tell you’ve made a home here, Sakura. You’re learning more here than I think you could in Konoha. You’ll do good here, I think.”

Her eyes teared up a bit, and Iruka leaned back against the rock. “Sensei I-”

“I’ll make Gemma send the resignation forms, and then it’s not really deserting.” She rushed to hug him, tears actively falling from her eyes. 

“Thank you sensei!”

* * *

  
  


“I hope you know what you’re doing, Iruka.” Genma attached the scroll of papers to the bird, and sent it out the window.

* * *

  
  


“So I just sign here?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“And when you’re done you can sign up as a Kiri nin.” Mei chimed in from the back.

“Mei, cut it out, she’s still of Konoha right now.”

“Both of you shut up. I have to forge Hatake’s signature.”

* * *

  
  


Iruka only stayed in Kirigakure for a week, bonding with some of the ninja, joining in on their drinking games and storytelling while Sakura and Mei tried to get through to the Mizukaze’s office. 

The fourth Mizukage had locked himself in as soon as the revolution had started, and no one had been able to get in since. Not that there were many volunteers. No one wanted to go against the one who decreed to wipe out all those with bloodlines, fearing for their own destruction if they did. Everyone knew that there was no tolerance for traitors against the mist village, and they all knew that taking down the current power could count as treachery against the village.

“Are you sure you want to come kid? I’m sure it won’t be pretty.”

“I’ll be okay. Besides,” she looked up at Mei. “You’re here to make sure I don’t die too early.” Mei laughed, turning down the hall to the Mizukage’s office.

They didn’t knock, instead opting to just kick in the door, leaving it smashed to the floor as they entered the room. Surprisingly, he hadn't turned towards the noise, instead staying in his meditation pose on the floor next to the desk.

“Yagura! The people have decided. You’re out of office. Pack up and leave before I force you out!”

Sakura stood helpfully next to the downed door while Mei yelled at him, watching Yagura with wide eyes. He didn’t respond immediately, and Sakura frowned. Even in a deep meditation, you weren’t this far from the real world. Not by choice. So when he stirred, and turned towards Mei with a gleam in his opening eyes, she stepped back and called out to her.

“Mei! I think he’s under a genjutsu. Be careful!”

She didn’t have time to make sure the woman had heard her, but she did have time to back away towards the window to avoid the blows she traded with Yagura.

“Genjutsu?” Mei called out questionably, then forced her chakra through Yagura’s system on her next blow. He hit the wall opposite of them, smashing through the desk and leaving papers in the air as he made contact. Mei started walking towards him.

“Mei? Is he, uh-” Sakura walked closer, eying the blood around the ride and fall of his chest. “Is he gonna be okay?”

Mei shugged, and swung him over her shoulder. “Eh, he’s a jinchuriki. Who knows.”

“A what?”

“Holy shit kid. Really?” Mei shook her head. “I’ll make Kisame tell you. He probably knows more than the rest of us anyways.”

* * *

  
  


“Wait- You’re serious? Like, really serious?”

“Yeah.” Kisame shrugged. “Figured I might as well retire after Akatsuki anyways, but at least now I can pass on the legacy without worrying about no one treating her right.”

“No kidding.” He stared at the large sword in surprise. “Wait. I can’t take her. What about kubikiribocho?”

“What about that pink kid you have?”

“Sakura? I don’t know.” He glanced down the blade of his sword. “I mean, it’s not a very light sword.”

“She’ll figure it out eventually.”


	3. Recede

She got called to the new Mizukage office about a week after Zabuza gifted her Kubikiribocho. The sword was easily taller than her, and weighed too much for her to lift, and, when she bothered Zabuza about it, he just said to figure it out. So, she opted to leave it in her room on the floor when she went to meet Mei.

Several kiri nin, ones she didn’t see during the revolution, were gathered in the office around the desk already when she entered. Some ignored her, but most were staring at her in confused surprise.

“Alright, listen up.” Everyone straightened as Mei began speaking. “Konoha invited us to join the Chunin Exams.” Several of the nin frowned, and she continued. “However, since the revolution, several of our teams have been disbanded, and some have lost members.” The one with brown hair grimaced at her words. “We will be participating, and teams will be decided based on the people who decide to participate, in order to familiarize yourselves with the rest of your peers as teammates rather than competition.”

“Yeah yeah that’s great and all, but who is she?” Someone pointed to Sakura.

Mei sighed. “Sakura Haruno, these are Kiri’s genin. Kids, this is Sakura Haruno.”

“Wait. You’re the one they said took out all of Gato’s people in wave.”

“Well it was more like-”

“Yeah, didn’t you help overthrow Lord Fourth.”

“I-”

“Someone said you were there. Were you?”

“Yes but-”

“ALL OF YOU CAN IT.”

They shut up, Mei glaring down at them from her place at the desk. “Now. Sakura is currently ranked officially as a genin or Kirigakure, so she will be going with you to Konoha to participate in the chunin exams. Which is why you were all called here. To sign up.” She held up papers and handed them out to the genin. “Hand them in before the week is over, and be ready at the gate at 0800 on the first of next week if you plan to go, even if you don’t want to participate.”

* * *

“Don’t eat that, Kohaku.” She eyed the berries he picked.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Sakura.” He stuck out his tongue in defiance, their teammate laughing before taking a closer look at the berries.

“Your funeral.”

“NO! Shit! Really. Don’t eat those. They’re deadly.”

He spat the ones he had in his mouth out and threw the handful to the woods. “No way. Sakura.” He punched her arm lightly. “Holy shit you saved my life.”

“Really.” She stared at him as he grabbed her leg, tears brimming in his eyes as he kneeled before her.

“Sakura. For saving my life, would you-” She kicked him in the face.

“Harsh.” 

“Oh come on Itama, it was funny. He’s fine.”

Just then, Kohaku sprung up from the dirt, staring down the path. “Hey. Where did everyone else go.”

Itama and Sakura turned to look at the trail ahead, the forest empty of their traveling companions.

"What are we supposed to do?! We're lost in the Land of Fire and I don't know about you but I'm very much sure we're lost."

"Itama really-"

"We're gonna be stuck here forever. I can see it now, three Kiri genin, found dead before their chunin exams. My poor dad'll-"

"We're not lost." They both turned towards her in confusion. She pointed down the trail. "Look. There's only one way to go. Let's just keep going that way until we get there."

* * *

"’ _There's only one way to go.’_ What are we supposed to do now? There's TWO PATHS!"

Sakura winced, wishing she paid more attention on her return trip to Konoha after wave. 

"Well I say we just-"

"THERE YOU THREE ARE!" Someone shouted from the leftmost path. "HURRY UP. WE'RE SETTING UP CAMP."

They turned to each other and shrugged before racing towards the sound. Mei gave them a stern look when they approached the fire, but handed them food all the same.

* * *

Sakura winced as they entered the village gates, their party of fifteen crowding just in the entrance, where the guards stared at them and eyed their headbands in suspicion. Mei stepped forward, saving her from their glances.

“Mei Terumi, Fifth Mizukage, here for the Chunin Exams.” She stuck out her hand for them to shake, though they didn’t take her up on the offer. “These are our Genin, and a few of our nin who wanted to watch them compete.”

“Identifications please.” One by one they stepped forward to pass over their badges, signing their names in the register. When it got to Sakura, she hesitated, pen poised over the paper, before signing her name, writing Kirigakure in the designated Village spot.

* * *

“Can you believe it? We’re really in Konoha!” Itama stared at all the shops in amazement as Kohaku carried him around on his back. “Hey, Sakura, can we go into that shop? I wanna see if I can get some seeds for my mom.”

Sakura shrugged, not really paying attention to her teammates as they wandered around, focusing more on making sure she didn’t run into someone who would most definitely recognize her from before. Moments later, she found herself facing a familiar shelf in a familiar flower shop as the boys argued over what plant Itama’s mom would like more.

“I think you should invest in one of these honestly.” Sakura jumped at the voice, and took the plant without making eye contact with the man.

“Thank you.” She whispered quietly, and Kohaku moved towards her, ever so slightly.

“Ne, Sakura,” he whispered at her. “Who is that?”

Thankfully, Itama had taken over the talking for the group and distracted the man with a conversation about the difference in plants in Kirigakure and Konohagakure, so they were free to talk.

“He’s part of Konoha’s T&I.” Sakura whispered back. “His wife owns this flower shop.”

Someone gasped behind them, and Sakura withheld a breath, praying to all the powers beyond that it wasn’t-

“Forehead?!”

“Forehead?” Kohaku repeated in confusion, but Sakura ignored him.

“Ino.”

* * *

She very much wanted to curl into a ball after that conversation. As soon as Ino was done yelling at her, and gave her a tearful hug, it seemed like the rest of the village had heard of her return. The jonin didn’t do much, bar the looks and disapproving glances, but the genin, her peers? They followed her as quietly as they could, watching her every move. To the Konoha public, she was a deserter, a traitor. Those in the know knew she had resigned from her position. The civilians knew that the shinobi weren’t pleased with her, so they followed the lead and were also not pleased with her.

She burst into Mei’s room with tears threatening to burst and her team following close behind her like the guard detail they all know she would deny in a heartbeat.

“You did have a part in this, you know.”

Sakura nodded her head, sniffling. Her teammates objected.

“She did nothing to the ninja here though.” M\ei’s gaze sharpened as it landed on Itama.

“You didn’t tell them?” Sakura winced. “Fucking hell kid.” She turned towards the boys, ignoring Sakura as she attempted to burrow herself behind Mei on the bed.

“Sakura was a Konoha nin, but her teacher didn’t teach her so she got held hostage by Haku and Zabuza and now she’s a Kiri nin. Any questions? Good.”

The boys stared at Mei in shock, before launching themselves on top of Sakura, almost knocking Mei off the bed in the process. They stayed huddled in the pile until Mei shouted at them to get some rest so they could train the next day.

* * *

  
  


Until they actually made it to the exam room, Sakura hadn’t seen team seven once, and now, there they were, sitting just in front of her. She wanted to reach out, to tell them it’s not their fault she left, that she still believed in them, but she didn’t. She knew better.

“Listen up!”

Everyone straightened in their chairs, eyes widening as they actually studied the proctor. His scarred face was likely enough to scare the genin straight, but Sakura just smiled softly. A chunin took note on his clipboard, as Ibiki kept talking. _This_ , she thought, _will be easy._

And it was, for the most part. She was thankful she didn’t need to worry about her teammates getting their team kicked out like the others, it gave her one less thing to worry about. Now, if she could remember that one equation, everything would be all set.

* * *

Her team shrugged as they left the building, carefully stepping over the broken glass that Anko left.

“What is her deal anyways?”

“Honestly, I think she’s just like that, but I only had her for my Resistance to Interrogation exam so who knows.”

Itama stopped and stared at her. “The what?”

“Resistance to Interrogation exam. She was the interrogator.”

“I think at this point I should stop being so surprised by the things you do but there always seems to be more.”

“Like how you forged your old sensei’s signature to get into the exam in the first place.”

“Yeah, like-” Kohaku stopped. “Who are you?”

“Sensei!”

“I see you’ve adjusted well. Told you it’d be good for you.”

“Yeah. Boys! This is Iruka-Sensei, he helped me transfer into Kiri from Konoha legally. Sensei, these are the boys, Itama and Kohaku.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yo.”

“Likewise.” Iruka looked over his shoulder and jumped. “Well, I have to go. Still on the run from Kakashi.”

* * *

The second exam was a clear demonstration of how much Sakura had grown in her time away from Konoha. The earth was soaked with blood, but her team did not waver and continued forwards towards where they believed the center to be.

“Wait.” Sakura stuck out her hand, stopping the boys in their tracks. “Something’s not right,”

“Of course something isn’t right, we’re in the middle of the fucking woods.” Kohaku cried out, gesturing wildly to the trees around them.

There was a loud crash to their immediate left, and they jumped.

“We should check it out.”

“No, Sakura, we should not check it out. We could die.”

“I mean-” Itama started, only to be cut off by a shout.

“You know what. Fine. We check out the noise.”

* * *

They eyed the blood with wide eyes. It painted the whole clearing, soaking deep into the clothes of the mangled corpses it leaked from. The boy in the middle of it all was spotlessly clean, his teammates cowering behind the nearby trees in fear.

“Y’know, Kohaku? I think you were right this time. Let's go. Quickly.” She turned, but remembered the objective of the task. “Shit. Wait.”

They cowered in the upper tree branches until the team left, and Sakura jumped down next to the corpses, landing in the bloody mud.

* * *

Thankfully, the amount of blood on the scroll didn’t affect the seal too badly, and they managed to get a proctor into the room with little trouble, though they did get some looks for all the blood. He handed them a map and congratulated them on making it to the tower as quickly as they did, but informed them that they had to stay in the tower until the exam ended.

“Wait can we shower?” Itama called out as the proctor vanished. 

* * *

“There’s 1093 ceiling tiles on the second floor.”

“You made it into that locked closet?”

“We were counting the closets?!”

* * *

“You guys are covered in blood. Did they not let you shower or did you just get here?”

“We have a shower? Where?”

“There should be a door somewhere in your closet-”

Itama was already racing back up the staircase to the room.

* * *

The steam rose around him as he cranked the heat

“Holy shit! We have a shower?” Kohaku threw open the door and wormed his way inside.

“Dude get out I’m in here!”

“Oh hell yeah! Hot water here I come!”

“Sakura wait!”

She slammed the door open and stared Itama dead in the eyes. “There is dried blood in my hair. Move over.”

“B-b-but you-”

She sighed, and cast the Mist Jutsu. “Okay. Better? Whatever. Pass me the soap-” There was a few moments pause when she assumed one of them was passing the soap when- “YOU GOT IT IN MY EYE ARE YOU KIDDING!?”

* * *

At the end of their waiting period, that's to say, when everyone who was going to make it to the tower made it to the tower, they were gathered into an arena.

“Preliminaries! Because so many of you passed, we need to slim it down. Anyone wish to forfeit?”

Several people raised their hands, looking worn from the forest. Sasuke, she was shocked to note, raised his hand to leave. Naruto stayed in his place, nodding at whatever the Uchiha whispered to him before he left.

“I wonder what that was about.” she murmured under her breath.

“Huh?” Kohaku turned towards her.

“Nothing.” She quickly whispered back, and then went silent as the proctor began issuing the lineup for fights.

  
  


* * *

“Good luck Itama!” 

“I’m sure you won’t need it!”

“Thanks guys!”

* * *

“There’s no way that’s allowed.” Kohaku said, watching as Gaara made to strike the sound nin down.

“What is sand doing? Is that their jinchuuriki?!” Mei said in a hushed voice, watching in horror as the nin was reduced to almost nothing by the sand.

“It must be.” One of Mei’s guards whispered back. “How else would a child have that much power.”

“I hope none of us have to fight him.” Sakura said, glancing at Itama, who was shaking in the stands between her and Kohaku.

“If you do, forfeit immediately and get the hell out of there. I won’t lose a genin to a foolish show of skills.” 

“Yes ma’am.”

* * *

Sasuke stared at the name on the board in mute horror. Haruno Sakura, it said. And she was fighting the puppet guy from sand. His eyes widened as she stepped into the ring, her pink hair tied into a careful bun pinned with senbon and a sword to her side. Beside him, he heard Kakashi shift ever so slightly closer to him.

“Maa, seems like Sakura has been busy.” 

He said it with such nonchalance, like it was fine that his student had left him, left his team, to join a whole different nation. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and made to turn towards his sensei to yell at him Because Sakura Left. His sensei’s face, however, was far from relaxed. His eyes were narrowed at the headband around Sakura’s forehead as she made her way to the center of the arena. 

“Begin!”

* * *

“Begin!”

Naruto clenched his fist, staring at the floor, the the wall, anywhere that wasn’t down there. She shouldn’t be there. Not like this. Not after she left like that.

“Sakura.” He whispered, and looked into the arena. She had the puppet guy pinned to the ground with a sword, his puppet discarded beside them. Sword in hand with body pinned beneath it, she looked-”

* * *

Terrifying. It was fucking terrifying. The blade was cold and the skin around it stung as the metal bit into his neck. He’d underestimated this girl originally. Her bright pink hair distracted from the dangerous weapons she wore in it. He should have expected the sword. She was Kiri, after all. They were known for their swordsmen just like Suna had once been known for it’s puppets.

He barely noticed the proctor state her the winner, or the silence that filled the crowd of Konoha nin as he was lead to the medical area to get patched up. No. His mind was still caught up on those piercing green eyes, and the bright pink hair that contrasted them.

* * *

After the arena was repaired, they drew lots to decide on their opponents. Thankfully, neither she nor Itama had to go against Gaara in the first round. Kohaku had forfeited his match, saying that he wanted the poor guy to keep his dignity. Sakura patted him on the head with a, don’t worry, there’s always next year’s exam.

They didn’t question her when she frowned at the name of her opponent as it was written onto the bracket, or when she crumpled her piece of paper into a tiny ball and shoved it deep into her pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Join the Discord?](https://discord.gg/r3dGp2z)


	4. Advance

To prepare for the finals, Mei had every team go against her in a spar. They had booked the training grounds closed to the river for the better part of the month, and made good use of it. Spars with Mei were staggered across the week for each team, and between then, even if they weren’t participating in the final rounds, they would train their kenjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu.

She did strength training for the better part of the month, as per Zabuza’s request for her to build up muscles for Kubikiribocho, while her team focused on making sure they could still fight when their main heavy hitter was more focused on kenjutsu. By the end of the training period, they were fairly confident that they could fight as a whole again, despite the change in dynamics. In the end though, it never mattered. 

Sakura lost her match, not that they were expecting her to win. She was against Naruto. A member of her old team. The one she abandoned for Zabuza, for Kiri. She went down with a fight, because Mei would expect nothing less. Naruto came after her with all the fury and betrayal he felt for her actions because, for all intents and purposes, she  _ betrayed _ him, and Sakura, fueled by the wish to get the approval of her teachers in Kiri, met his attack with an almost equal force. 

"YOU LEFT US!" Sakura winced, dodging his fist as she formed handsigns. A thick mist filled the arena floor, draining her chakra steadily as it expanded across the ground. She quickly drew her sword, moving back from where Naruto was. He twisted around quickly, eyes wild as he tried to see through the mist to find her. She took a moment to steady herself and rushed forward, sword aimed at his shoulder.

He didn't turn to meet her, instead, he stood still as the sword pierced his flesh. She drew back, eyes widening as he turned to smoke. A clone. She turned around, trying to regain her upper hand, but a fist struck her from the left, knocking her across the arena. The blow was enough to disrupt the flow of her chakra, making it waver as she grit her teeth and got up on her hands and knees and coughed. Her sword was no longer in her hand, it probably got sent in a different direction when she was struck.

The mist dissipated slowly, her chakra no longer keeping it where it was. It meant that the judges and spectators could see inside the arena again. She looked around at the crowd, hoping to catch a glance of Mei, or one of her teammates, but couldn't see them 

"SAKURAAA!" Naruto cried out from behind her as she turned around, cursing herself for getting distracted during the fight. She quickly turned, holding two kunai and wishing more than ever that she had her sword on her. A dozen or so Naruto clones were rushing her, every one if them holding various weapons, some even holding paper bomb tags. She ducked under the first two that jumped, sticking her kunai up so they'd cut the clones as they passed over her The next ones that came after her had paper bombs, and she snagged one before the clone was vanished. The rest seemed to have decided that going against her in small groups wasn't working and rushed after her at once.

She waited until they were almost on top of her and set off the paper bomb. Several clones vanished then and there, and the rest of the clones were blown backwards by the explosion, most vanishing as they impacted the ground. Sakura was at the center of the explosion. That's what everyone saw and knew. Sakura was at the center of the explosion and Naruto didn't have clones and Sakura was gone. Until she wasn't 

Her hair was singed, the arm that had held onto the paper bomb was burnt, and her eyes were filled with unspilled tears, but she stood somewhat steady just outside the blast radius. She had substituted herself for her sword. She rushed him again, only this time, she had a kunai in her hand and nowhere to hide.

She struck fast, severing the tendons in his right arm before he could even think to stop her attack or Dodge. With his right arm our of commission, she aimed for that sideagain, knowing he wouldn't be able to raise a weapon against her fast enough to cause any damage. He went down, hitting the dirt as a whistle came from the genin's side of things. She glances up, catching the waving arms and the exuberant cheers from Itama and Kohaku.

She smiled at them before turning back to where Naruto had landed. The second she turned, a large force slammed into her head and threw her back again. This time though, she didn't get back up.

Naruto limped out of the arena and back to where the rest of the genin waited, wounds already healing. Sakura left the arena on a stretcher, med-nin surrounding her and hauling her away as quickly as they could.

  
  
  


Sakura woke with pounding in her head and the strangest feeling of deja vu. Itama and Kohaku were by her bedside, both looking bruised and beaten in their own rights, but their faces held matching smiles.

"There's been talk-"

"And you've been in the hospital since your fight-"

"But we won our first fights and Mei let us come down here so we could check on you-"

"And on our way down we overheard some of the older shinobi talking to each other about-"

A shout came from above them, echoing through the internal walls of the arena.

"You can hear the fights from down here?" Sakura groaned, rubbing her head with the hand not in bandages. Her mind felt fuzzy. The boys looked at each other in surprise, because, as far as they knew, you shouldn't be able to hear the fights. A crash came, and another shout.

"Do you want to come watch?"

"Do you think they'll let me, even if I wanted to?"

"Just don't let them find out! We are shinobi, after all."

Sakura shrugged, and Itama was instantly at her side, helping her up from the bed. Her good arm was slung over his shoulder while Kohaku supported her from the other side, unusually careful as he avoided the sling that contained her other arm. They led her back up to the arena, where absolute chaos had erupted.

Sakura shook under their grips, watching as a Suna-nin was taken out by one of Konoha's force. Itama and Kohaku shared a look, and turned to face her. "Absolutely not."

"I Have To Do Something!" She said, tugging her good arm from Itanas shoulder and wobbling a bit. "I can't just stand around and to nothing!"

"You can and you will." A firm voice said from behind them. The three jumped and spun around, staring at the disapproving form of Zabuza in front of them. "I know you don't think so, but you are seriously injured. They must have you doors up one some strong pain meds if you made it this far.

That explained the fuzzy, at least.

  
  


Itama and Kohaku had made it their mission to protect Sakura throughout the invasion, taking out any nin that got close to their safe triangle under a broken pillar leaning against the wall. Zabuza was watching over them from the middle of the frat, taking out most of the ninja that came their way, but leaving a few for the kids to take care of. Sakura had collapsed soon after she made it up there, the painkillers running off as her brain kicked into a panicked overdrive and her chakra began moving faster to keep her going.

When the last do the fighting had stopped, and the arena was calm, they heard news of what had happened. Orochimaru had made a village, Otogakure, convinced the sand to invade banking on the political and economical turmoil the country was under to persuade them, killed and replaced the Kazekage, and invaded Konoha during the exams. He had planned on killing the third Hokage, and, had the Kiri shinobi force not been there to assist in the battle, having been in the audience to watch genin fight, he would have been successful.

Kiri's shinobi force held many people who were taught by the seal masters of Uzushio, though many learned through scrolls. The knowledge of seals, however, allowed the jobun to break the barrier that was out between Hirizen and Orochimaru's fight and stop them before it was too late. Lord Third ended up in the hospital with major injuries, along with many of the Kiri force that fought in the battle alongside him. The Hokage was hidden in a private hospital room, sealed for the head medic's access only, three floors above where Sakura's room was 

Itama had told her so, when he came to visit to keep her updated. Mei came by a few times, right before the medical team would do their checks, just to make sure they weren't treating her poorly just because she wasn't a Konoha shinobi anymore. She never believed when Sakura said they were fine, so she'd always sit and watch the medics work, probably scaring them all with the glares she'd give if Sakura so much as gasped.

As soon as most of the Kiri shinobi were well enough to travel, they gathered up souvenirs and the civilian stragglers that had come to watch the fights and headed back towards home, Itama, Sakura, and Kohaku taking the lead down the trail, watched fondly by Zabuza and Mei as they marched down the path.

"She's gonna be great. I can feel it."

"Of course she is!" Some random civilian pitched in from behind her. "You're her teacher after all!"

A smile touched Sakura's face as she overheard, and she picked up her pace, making Itama and Kohaku jog to keep up. She was finally going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I made her fight Naruto because I wanted him in there somewhere, y'know?
> 
> I think that this is a good stopping point for this story. That means to say this part of the story. I intend on writing small bits and pieces here and there that go along with it, snapshots of her training, or her time spent in Konoha's hospital, more of Itama and Kohaku, or even some of team sevens reactions to Sakura's choice. (Definitely a fic that's just Sakura struggling to lift Kubikiribocho lmao) Hey! Maybe I'll do something with Kankuro and Sakura and toss in some sand sibling shenanigans for flavor!
> 
> Thank you for all the support and comments as this has come along, thank you for reading the fic, feel welcome to send in art or prompts or anything like that to my Tumblr @absolutefandom-rubbish , post in the comments, PM me here, or join the discord (https://discord.gg/9bDXG2n) and send it there.


End file.
